Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

The air instantly heated up, becoming as bright as a sunset canyon, with crimson shockwaves spreading outwards in a spherical shape. The temperature around them rose to a thousand degrees Celsius in an instant. Asuka, whose senses were synchronized with her body, felt as if she were inside a solar corona, with the scorching air entering their bodies and burning them.

but--

Unit-01 stood where the crimson wave had originated, its outstretched palm seemingly binding the sun. It had actually used its AT Field to envelop the shockwave generated by the Angel's death. Purple arcs of light flowed around the circular, transparent barrier surrounding it, until the surging energy within gradually dissipated, returning to nature.

"Is this the Third Child, whom Headquarters regards as their savior?" Asuka gazed at the scene, which resembled a miracle. The enormous purple machine's palm seemed to be binding the sun. At this moment, she somewhat understood the mentality of the Knights Guard members in Headquarters who fanatically believed that the Third Child was humanity's savior.

If anyone can save humanity from the hands of the Angels, it must be... me, piloting the strongest and invincible Unit-02!

As the blood-red cross, symbolizing the apostles' demise, rose in the valley, the staff clapped and cheered, while others shouted and celebrated humanity's renewed victory over fate.

Ritsuko Akagi was also among those clapping.

But she also gazed at Unit-01 on the screen, which was holding the sun in its palm.

"When he first piloted the EVA to confront the Angels, the test results showed that the density of the soul matter of the Absolute Territory he manifested was 7.2 times that of the Water Angel, Sakir. It seems that the Third Child hadn't yet unleashed his true power." Ritsuko Akagi took off her glasses, took out a special silk handkerchief from her pocket to wipe them, and looked at Misato Katsuragi beside her with a cold expression.

"So I'm very curious about his understanding of the world and other people?" Ritsuko Akagi asked.

This is not only her doubt, but also one of the seven mysteries of the entire NERV headquarters, and one of the fundamental reasons why Gendo Ikari continues to send psychologists...

The Absolute Territory, also known as the Wall of the Heart, is a force field that manifests as the external form of the root of human loneliness and suffering. However, it is clear that Shinji Ikari is not the kind of twisted child who firmly separates his own consciousness from the self-consciousness of others. The psychological map of his perception of the external world, which enables him to form such an Absolute Territory beyond the normal range, is a secret that all the researchers in the development department and the entire senior management want to explore.

"Don't ask me, I'm curious too." Misato Katsuragi blinked. "But even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."

At that moment, Misato Katsuragi was also filled with emotion.

"With an absolute advantage over the Angels, I'm starting to believe that he can truly defeat the Angels single-handedly, without relying on synchronization and coordination." Misato Katsuragi's gaze was empty and desolate. "Sometimes I'm really afraid, afraid that he will become some kind of indescribable being. But thankfully, he still has human emotions, and flaws."

"For example, prostatitis?" Ritsuko Akagi leaned over, revealing a slightly wicked grin.

"That's enough, this joke is too cheesy, let's come up with something new."

After the battle to defeat the Eighth Angel ended, Asuka announced that she would be moving back to her original dormitory.

Oh, she's always lived right next door, only having a brief period of close contact with Shinji Ikari during those five days when Misato Katsuragi forced her to. Now she's just back to her normal daily life.

"I don't feel any reluctance. The suffering is finally over," Asuka thought to herself.

At the farewell party that evening, while enjoying hot pot prepared by Shinji Ikari, Misato drank beer and talked non-stop without batting an eye. Occasionally, Shinji and Asuka would clink glasses over ramune. Only Rei Ayanami sat coldly to the side, like an invisible ghost. Although Asuka didn't seem bothered by Rei's cold attitude, nor did she seem to mind Misato's risqué jokes, no one knew what she truly felt inside.

She would only occasionally glance at the smiling boy's face.

Although Misato Katsuragi tried to persuade her to stay when they parted, Asuka resolutely refused, tossing her long blonde hair. However, she did not leave immediately.

Although the meeting ended at 9:30, after Shinji Ikari invited him to play two more rounds of DuckKill, he was forced to compete against Shinji Ikari until he won.

Shinji Ikari couldn't remember what time he went back to his room and fell asleep; he was only woken up by the bloating from the beer and soda. It was already dark when he woke up, and Asuka was nowhere to be seen. He vaguely remembered that even after he tried to persuade her to stay, she still chose to go back to her dorm to sleep, but he couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality.

After stepping out of the room, a sound came from the entrance hall.

Turning my head to the side, I saw a tall figure standing in front of the refrigerator, fiddling with something, in the dim moonlight.

It was Misato Katsuragi, wearing only a white shirt. Beneath the hem, it seemed as if there was nothing underneath, but one could vaguely see her long, muscular, and beautifully shaped legs. She was barefoot, wearing only slippers. Just as Shinji Ikari was trying to catch a glimpse of what lay beneath the shirt, the figure turned around.

Misato Katsuragi (probably not).jpg

Chapter Sixty: Call My Name

"Would you like something to drink?" Misato Katsuragi turned her head to look at Shinji Ikari as he walked out of the room. "Of course, yogurt."

Shinji Ikari nodded, offering no objection.

The two sat down on the sofa. The coffee table in the living room was a mess, with empty wine bottles, Ramune soda, and a set of animal chess pieces scattered around. Everyone had had so much fun at the farewell party that no one bothered to clean up.

Of course, it's even less likely that you can count on Rei Ayanami.

Shinji Ikari, reflecting on the past two weeks, was quite certain that this first girl was a complete idiot with a severe lack of common sense.

If you let her use the washing machine, she'll throw in a whole box of laundry detergent the moment you take your eyes off her, leaving foam everywhere and making it a real pain to clean up. At that time, Shinji Ikari really wished there was a detergent that could remove laundry detergent.

If you ask her to clean the bathroom, she'll end up completely soaked. It's hard to tell whether she cleaned the bathroom or the bathroom cleaned her. But if you let her go shopping alone, she can accurately buy everything she needs. She seems to treat Shinji Ikari's instructions as a job, and she takes it very seriously. Even if the missing item is in a faraway place, she'll diligently walk there to buy it.

There were countless other troublesome situations as well. Fortunately, during their cohabitation, she gradually learned common sense about life and would diligently complete her assigned household chores according to the monthly schedule. This gave Shinji Ikari a feeling of playing a girl-raising game.

But sometimes I think of Rei Ayanami, so transparent she seemed to be leaving this world, in that dilapidated and messy room.

"Who are you thinking about? Rei Ayanami, right?" Misato Katsuragi sipped her yogurt, her left knee bent and her foot resting on the sofa, casually picking at her toes.

"Why can't it be Asuka?" Shinji Ikari finally inserted the straw into the bottle opening. "It's her farewell party tonight."

“Because you sometimes look at Rei Ayanami with the same pity you just showed. Although you sometimes pretend to be cold and rude to her, we can all feel your favoritism towards her. However, Rei Ayanami herself probably doesn’t realize it.” Misato Katsuragi blinked and looked at the quiet Shinji Ikari. “Of course, I’m just guessing. Maybe you’re thinking of Commander-in-Chief Gendo Ikari.”

"What a lame joke," Shinji Ikari thought to himself. The last sentence left him completely speechless.

The only sound in the dark, quiet living room was Misato Katsuragi slurping her yogurt. After she felt she had almost finished, she revealed her bright white teeth and gave Shinji Ikari a curious smile.

Misato Katsuragi continued, "Speaking of which, when I received orders to pick you up in Second Tokyo, I was still wondering what kind of child you were. At that time, all I had was a photo of you, and that photo is still tucked in my wallet. The sadness in your eyes seems to be peeking out of the photo, calling out for someone to hug me."

"That sounds so exaggerated," Shinji Ikari said, biting his straw.

"But that's the feeling, actually very similar to Asuka. Don't be fooled by her strong appearance, she's actually a little girl who craves love and care. If you were to ask her to stay, she might hesitate for a bit and then actually stay here."

"I invited you." Shinji Ikari took a big gulp of yogurt.

Misato Katsuragi rolled her eyes at him. "Of course, I don't mean you have to invite them in their room. No one would agree to that kind of playboy behavior. It needs to be more formal. You should know better than me how to invite them. Although it's not nice to say it like this, both Rei and Asuka often need your help. As a more mature adult, you should..."

The room suddenly fell silent. Shinji Ikari turned his head and saw a purple-haired woman who was already asleep, nestled against the sofa cushions.

Shinji Ikari sipped the last of his yogurt, then placed the remaining yogurt container on Misato Katsuragi's forehead.

"You've said so much, but why haven't you talked about yourself, Ms. Katsuragi?" Shinji Ikari raised an eyebrow.

As the sound faded, the yogurt container that had been resting on Misato Katsuragi's forehead lost its balance and fell to her chest before bouncing to the ground.

Shinji Ikari bent down to pick it up, but inadvertently saw a pair of bare feet wearing only slippers.

My eyes automatically focused upwards. Those legs were surprisingly long, with firm muscles yet smooth lines. Below the small, round knees were straight, wine-glass calves.

Her legs, almost to the top, were just covered by a white shirt, making Shinji Ikari feel uneasy for a moment. But his gaze continued upwards. The shirt clung tightly to her shapely figure, and just above the shirt, which seemed poised to come loose at any moment, delicate collarbones could be seen against her fair skin.

Should we continue? Shinji Ikari wondered.

Although he felt that Misato Katsuragi wasn't Rei Ayanami, and that she should be properly dressed under her clothes, Shinji Ikari still remembered the fleeting glimpse he had of her at their first meeting that night. This made him want to lift up her clothes and investigate the truth.

At that moment, Misato Katsuragi, who was lying on the back of the sofa, suddenly rolled over and lay directly in Shinji Ikari's arms. Seemingly adjusting to a better sleeping position, she hugged his waist, smacked her lips, and buried her head in his arms.

"Honestly, after all this talk, you're still just a big kid at heart," Shinji Ikari sighed.

Shinji Ikari gently pried open Misato Katsuragi's arms that were wrapped around his waist, careful not to disturb her. He stood up, stretched, then bent down again and gently lifted her up from below her knees and waist, before walking toward her room.

At this moment, Misato Katsuragi, who was being carried back to her room in a rather embarrassing princess carry by Shinji, slightly lifted her eyelids, then returned to calm.

In the staff dormitory two doors down, in her own room, Asuka leaned against the bed, holding a tattered doll high in the air with both hands.

"Asuka is not like those idiots! Asuka is special!" The blonde girl imitated the doll's voice in an incredibly childish accent.

“That’s why…” Asuka paused, her eyes, which had been smiling, slowly turned calm. “So you can only rely on yourself, Asuka.”

After the noise subsided, she felt even more tired. Asuka no longer felt frustrated, just extremely tired, so tired that she just wanted to sleep.

But Asuka had already woken up from her dream. Her voice, strained and deliberately childish, drifted away on the night breeze, echoing in the empty room. This habit of talking to herself had been with her since childhood. Asuka didn't know who she was calling out to; it was as if something was weighing on her heart, making her want to shout something out loud.

But at this moment, what appeared in her mind was no longer the blurry image of her mother. Instead, it was another figure.

It has nothing to do with teenage restlessness, and it's certainly not about liking someone. It's just that at this moment, I kind of want to see you, you idiot.

Chapter 61: School Trip

The next morning, Shinji Ikari opened his eyes before 5:30.

Shinji Ikari doesn't have the habit of setting an alarm clock; his biological clock is always very accurate. The reason it's a little earlier today is because the room is too stuffy. To be precise, his body temperature is a bit too high.

At this moment, he was being held in Misato Katsuragi's arms, and of course, he was also holding the other's waist, their four legs intertwined as if they were inseparable.

Last night, after carrying Misato Katsuragi back to his room, he was about to go back to sleep when a hand suddenly reached out and pulled him back into bed while he was still kneeling on one knee. So Shinji Ikari simply went to sleep.

Shinji Ikari was also quite surprised, as even true lovers wouldn't hug so tightly after being affectionate. After all, the sticky feeling and the random movements of the body in sleep would eventually separate them.

“…Hmm.” Misato Katsuragi exhaled a long breath, still carrying the smell of last night’s alcohol.

In this extremely difficult face-to-face situation, even the slightest movement is problematic. It's as if he's been absorbed into her body; their faces are so close they can almost feel each other's breath.

The distance was so close that even speaking made one hesitate, and the scent of Misato Katsuragi, slightly tinged with the smell of sweat, wafted through the air.

Perhaps due to Shinji Ikari's actions, Misato Katsuragi's bra straps slipped from her shoulders down to her arms. The outline of her chest was already almost fully revealed, and it looked like her clothes were about to slip down to where the front of her breasts would be visible.

"This is tough," Shinji Ikari muttered.

Actually, ever since they met on their first day living together, he couldn't stop thinking about Misato. Her breasts were quite ample. The full, rounded shape almost burst through her highly elastic shirt. Her cleavage, which seemed deep enough to fit several fingers, was also quite impressive, and from Shinji's perspective, the side profile of her breasts—the curves of her youthful body—was clearly visible.

Come to think of it, she's not exactly an old woman, Shinji Ikari thought. Sometimes when she annoys him, he might utter those three words that would drive Misato Katsuragi into a rage, but she's really only in her twenties, or even, to be a little narcissistic, a youthful and invincible beauty.

Moreover, one of Shinji Ikari's knees was sandwiched between his beautiful thighs exposed by his shirt. If he moved forward even a millimeter, it would definitely touch the forbidden zone that must never be touched.

Shinji Ikari could only slowly pull his arm away from under her body, and then he was finally able to sit freely on the bed. Just as he was about to get up and leave, he suddenly realized something very serious.

"What a disgrace! If word gets to Wallins, I'll be branded a coward." Shinji Ikari thought to himself, then straightened his collar.

A true knight must never back down at crucial moments.

So he returned to his original position and bent down to press down.

Whether by chance or because she had already woken up, Misato Katsuragi suddenly opened her eyes at this moment.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked.

“Offer your sincerity.” Shinji Ikari’s expression was serious, as if he were investigating something very solemn and sacred. But his hands were trying to unbutton his shirt.

But Misato Katsuragi stretched her right hand out from under the covers and pressed it against Shinji Ikari's face, saying, "This is Seven Star Entertainment, you idiot."

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I wash my face first thing in the morning, and then head to the living room with the hot spring penguin that was rubbing against my feet begging for food.

The living room also served as the dining room. After Shinji Ikari finished washing up, the originally messy room had been tidied up by Rei Ayanami.